Georgia statesman Benjamin Hill railed at the postwar Reconstruction imposed on the South, calling it “the torch of the incendiary, the knife of the assassin, the fire-arm of the bandit, sending death-blows to the life of the State, to the heart of society, and to the hopes of civilization, that ignorance and vice may be exalted, and intelligence and virtue degraded!”

“But one comfort he Southern people and their children must ever have. Whether Constitutional government shall continue or fail; whether States rights shall remain, or be obliterated; whether liberty shall be recovered, or die the death that knows no walking – we shall be vindicated!

If the Union of the States, under Constitutional government, and securing the blessings of liberty, be recovered and perpetuated, the work can only be done by returning to the great principles for which we struggled. The general government must be restrained within the limitations of its Constitutional delegated powers, and the States restored to the unrestrained control of their domestic affairs under their reserved rights, or Union, States, and liberty must perish.

If this glorious work shall have success, then, the rejoicings of according States and happy millions from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Lakes to the Gulf, will syllable forever the hallelujahs of Southern triumph!

But if blindness, madness, hate, and ambition shall continue coercion and reconstruction as accepted and approved principles of Federal administration, then the wail that shall come up from the universal wreck of Union, States, and liberty, will drown the thunder in loud vindication of Southern wisdom and fidelity. The graves of Davis and Lee will become Meccas for journeying, sorrow-stricken pilgrims of right for ages to come; and the future historian, reviewing the records your care shall have preserved, will write the epitaph for the Confederate dead: “These were the last heroes of freedom in America.”

Civil War anniversary stirs race debate" raised an old debate, but it has surely outlasted the test of time. With very disagreeable views on either side, and myself being a Civil War history buff, I can only speak from my perspective.

The common valor and pride which was instilled in a common cause in which so many a Confederate soldier was to give the ultimate sacrifice cannot be denounced.

It is now instilled in the very fiber of Southerners that will be a hard shell to crack. For all time it will be in the hearts and minds of a proud people that cannot be shaken. The ruin of time has not shaken it from its very foundation, nor from the winds of history.

D. Scott Ellsworth

Memphis

========

"Fulfilling one of their most prominent campaign promises, House Republican leaders have unveiled a new rule to require that each bill filed in the House “cite its specific constitutional authority.”

"These accusations are patently and historically wrong. In 1860, secession was not considered an act of treason. Secession had been suggested by northern states previously and their lives were not in peril for the suggestion. Texas had recently seceded from Mexico to join the United States. This was sanctioned and embraced by the United States government, including Abraham Lincoln. In fact, the United States was created due to a secession of the colonies from the government of Great Britain. Would you suggest an evil intent is behind the celebration of the Fourth of July on these same grounds?"

"Flags. These are always a bad sign. Hardly a politician appears on television who doesn’t stand in front of an American flag, sometimes three American flags. A venomous nationalism now poisons the air, and grows. We are off and rolling.

The trappings of fascism spread. General David Petraeus, commander of the Eastern Front, poses with the President in the White House in combat fatigues. The country is now the Homeland, reminiscent of the Nazi Fatherland and the Soviet Motherland. We hear of American Exceptionalism, the ritual self-idolizaton beloved of pathological nationalism. Blood and Soil. The American Dream. Ubermenschen. All we need is a short Austrian."

"An entire crew of a B-29 (12 aviators) was rescued by a US submarine after their plane was shot down in 1944/5 70 miles off the coast of Japan. The entire rescue was filmed in color video but then sat in a guy's closet until now. This is a story from a Denver TV station of one of those rescued aviators to whom the video was delivered. It also shows their transfer to another submarine that is likely headed back to port before the one that accomplished the rescue."

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"We had best get in touch with our inner savage. Not because I or any of you long to roll around in spilled guts and drink from the skulls of our enemies.

Americans, all Westerners, need to wake up to the fact that Leninism never went away. It is alive today in Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, India, South Africa and most of the rest of the continent, much of Europe (East and West), Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brazil and most of Latin America, the US Congress and Senate and even the White House."

Remembrance

To die for one’s country is not only an act of bravery, it is THE act of bravery. For soldiers, it is just an extension of their military career, a part of their duty. As leaders have asked their soldiers to sacrifice themselves for the good of the society, it is only right for leaders to go through the same motion. They should practice what they have preached.

As war is seen as a noble act, tu sat serves as redemption in case of defeat. It is also a way to tell the enemy: “You might have won the battle/war but you don’t deserve to win because you don’t have the chinh nghia (just cause).” And it is not only just cause: it is the moral belief that the cause they are fighting for deserves their total sacrifice. Continues below

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Core Creek Militia

==============================My sixth great grandfather, his wife, and five of his six children were killed in battle with the Tuscarora Indians at Core Creek, NC.

The Seven Blackbirds

==============================My third great grandfather was an Ensign in the Revolutionary War, and saved his unit's flag after being wounded at the Battle of Brandywine. He was also at Kingston (Kinston), Wilmington, Charleston, Two Sisters and Augusta. He was at the defeat at Brier Creek and also Bee Creek.

Requiem Aeternam -
Eternal Rest Grant unto Them
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My second great grandfather was killed in action on May 3, 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
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My great grandfather and great uncle knew all the men in the "Civil War Requiem" video as they were part of the 53rd NC which was the sole unit defending Fort Mahone. (Fort Mahone was named "Fort Damnation" by the Yankees) *Handpicked men of the 53rd (My great grandfather was one of these) made the final, night assault at Petersburg in an attempt to break Grant's line. This was against Fort Stedman which was a few miles to the slight northeast. They initially succeeded, but reinforcements drove them back. This video is made from photographs which were taken the day after the 53rd evacuated the lines the night before to begin the retreat to Appomattox. I have many more pictures taken by the same photographer, one of these shows a 14 year old boy and the other is the famous picture of the blond, handsome soldier with his musket.
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*General Gordon promised the men a gold medal and 30 days leave if they accomplished their task and many years after the War my great grandfather wrote General Gordon, who was then governor of Georgia about this incident. They exchanged several letters which I have framed. See first link below.
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*The Attack On Fort Stedman
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"His Colored Friends"
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Lee's Surrender
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My Black NC Kinfolks
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Punished For Being Caught!

Great Grandfather Koonce

He was a drummer boy in the WBTS, survived the War only to die a few years later. He was caught in an ice storm on his way home, but instead of seeking shelter, continued on his horse until the end. His clothes had to be cut off and he died a few days later.